From the Other Side
by midnightluck
Summary: She'd left the island to look for her brother. She never considered that he might not want to be found. A twist on the usual sibling scenario. "Am I not strong enough? Not smart enough? Not quick enough, not violent enough, not pretty enough...?"


Yukina was many things. She was a demon, a healer, a girl, a friend, a daughter, a sister. She tried to be considerate and kind, she was very contentious, and maybe still a little fuzzy on interacting with humans.

She knew demon politics and interactions though, and Yukina was never stupid.

Her life was so clear before her coming-of-age. She'd stay on the island, maybe leave once on a quest or mission or some-such, then settle in, have a family and the like. Then, on her one hundred and sixth birthday, her mother broke down in tears and explained that that day was also her _brother's_ coming-of-age.

It was the first time she'd ever wanted to hurt a living being. She was surprised by how right and good it felt.

She left island, swearing never to return without her brother.

_-_-_-

-_-_-_

When she'd set out to find him, she'd had a sort of mental image of what he'd be like. It was mostly made of pieces of her, her mother, and others, and was constantly shifting. She did know some things, though.

She knew he'd be short. No Koorime had ever grown taller than the Ozmanthis tree in the village, but even on top of that, their mother was short, too.

She knew he'd be wiry and tanned from life off of the island. The mainland was a harsh place to grow up, and he would bear the marks of that.

He'd most likely have red eyes. All with Koorime blood did, but she had to factor in the uncertainty of what the half that was not Koorime contributed. So he might or might not, but she rather thought the former.

The same applied to his hair. All the Koorime she knew—and that was many—had hair in a shade of some cool color. Blues were prevalent, as were purple and green, but white was not unheard of. Again, though, with half his heritage unknown, she couldn't be sure.

She was sure about his powers, though. Ice was, of course, the most likely, but oftentimes twins were born with opposite powers. Fire, then, also made the list.

So she wandered, looking for so much as a rumor, and then she'd gone and gotten herself kidnapped. During the first month or so, she'd thought he might come to her. Then she realized the flaw with this plan; he might not know he had a sister. He might not be looking for her. He might not care if he did know. She became determined to escape.

Only to find she couldn't. There she remained until the day the Tougoro brothers arrived and killed her birds. She'd thrown a fit and given Tarukane exactly what he wanted. It was then she knew she _had_ to put herself beyond his clutches, even if it took suicide to do so.

She'd been ready to do it, too. But then Yuusuke and Kuwabara came charging in and pulled the place down around their ears. Her ice-bade had shattered, and she let herself hope again. A black shadow flitted towards the pig who'd held her and she'd never been so glad in her life. The other demon had a blade to Tarukane's throat and —_he's going to die - killed my birds - he _deserves _it - want him _dead— the boy turned his face towards her without moving his eyes. Was she okay?

Yes. Yes she was. In fact, she was breathless, dizzy even. Her imaginary amalgamation of a brother disappeared from her head, and was replaced by—_red eyes, short, wiry, tanned, white streak in the hair, power over fire! —_him. She asked him to stop, not because she didn't want the pig dead, but because it wasn't that important anymore. He'd looked at her with wide eyes—_just like hers!_—and she smiled and was close to throwing her arms around him and never letting go.

Then Yuusuke did something stupid, and they'd had to run. It wasn't until a long time later than she got to speak with him again. She'd brought up the subject of a sibling delicately, watching his face. It was possible he didn't know....

His face closed down at the word "brother."

He knew. He knew _everything_.

And he'd looked away, mumbled something about helping her search, and flitted away into the trees.

The place in her heart where she kept her hope froze over. He wouldn't claim her. She didn't know why, but that wasn't as important as the fact that _he would not claim her as family._

Yukina watched her brother go. She knew she'd follow. After all, where else had she to go?

_-_-_-

-_-_-_

Every now and again, she'd ask about his search, or bring up the topic in hopes he'd changed his mind. He always left the temple soon after. She smiled and helped Genkai with the chores and made friends with Kuwabara, Kurama and Yuuske. Yuusuke was loud and brash, but he was fun, too. Kuwabara was just silly, but it always made her smile. Kurama quickly became her closest friend, but that wasn't saying much, since they were her only friends.

It was about a year later that she realized he wasn't going to change his mind. She thanked him, said he had already done more than enough, and that she couldn't ask him to keep searching when it was such a drain on his time. He was surprised, she could tell, but he nodded and wished her luck on her search.

She smiled at him, then went to her room. She laid a towel on the floor to cushion and contain the gems, and then cried out her broken heart.

A soft tap on her door made her jerk her head up, wiping her eyes, and trying vainly to hide the fact she'd been crying. Kurama stood in the doorway. "May I...."

She looked down; he took it as permission. He gathered up the towel, careful not to spill its contents, and set it to the side, taking its place in front of her. She fell onto his shoulder, and the tears flowed anew. He murmured sweet nothings in her ear and patted her back until she finally calmed down a bit.

"Why...why does he hate me?" She asked his shirtfront, her voice catching. "Is it because I wasn't strong enough to escape, or because I wasn't smart enough to stay on the island, or am I not violent enough, or not pretty enough...? He's all I have, but he _hates_ me, and he won't claim me...." She sniffled again, pulled herself together, and then sat back and tried to smile at Kurama. "I'm sorry. I promised myself I wouldn't whine about this. I just....I...."

"Shh, it's okay," he told her, drawing her back to his shoulder. "It's okay to be sad."

She was so lucky to have a friend like him.

_-_-_-

-_-_-_

Kurama stepped onto the porch, sliding the door shut behind him. Almost immediately, a dark shadow joined him.

"Is she okay? What's she crying over?"

Kurama fixed Hiei with a stare. "You," he declared, "are both self-sacrificing idiots. Go fix it." Then he walked away.

--_End-_-

* * *

_Thanks to MimzSilver for beta-ing this! Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone._

_I do not own anything affiliated with this story or this series except the plot._


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